Wednesday, 22 May 2013

Fresh globe artichokes in
varying shades of purple and green, and in various shapes and sizes, are a show
stopper in any street market from spring though to summer in the Mediterranean.
Not so very long ago, fresh globe artichokes (not to be confused with Jerusalem
artichokes) were a rarity outside of specialist greengrocers but they are now
creeping into mainstream supermarkets up and down the country.

These are not the young
tender hearts we are familiar with preserved in oil.

They look a bit tired and
sad and require a lot of cleaning but with the correct preparation and cooking they
are full of flavour and can be used to good effect.

The artichokes can be
cooked in advance and added to the freshly cooked pork when ready to serve.

NB a quick version of the recipe can be
made using preserved artichokes. Simply drain a small jar of artichoke hearts
and slice them thinly and arrange on kitchen paper to get rid of the excess oil.
Prepare the pork tenderloin as below, top with the sliced artichokes, sprinkle
with a tablespoon of finely chopped parsley mixed with 1 small finely chopped
garlic clove, cover with a lid and leave for 5 minutes, shaking the pan from
time to time.

Cut away any sinew or
fat on the tenderloin and cut into 2 cm thick slices. Arrange well spaced out,
cut side down on a board and flatten them with the palm of your hand. Then
cover with a length of cling film and using a rolling pin beat the pork pieces
evenly to 5 mm thick slices and reserve.

Squeeze the lemon juice into a bowl of cold water. Clean the
artichokes; trim the stem leaving 3-4 cm and scrape with a potato peeler. Pull away
the tough outer leaves and scrape the base with the potato peeler. Cut the
artichoke in half down through the stem, cut away the top of the leaves leaving
the base and 1-2 cm of the leaves. Scoop out the choke using a serrated
grapefruit spoon if you have one. You will be left with the tender base and stem. See
photographs. Immerse in the acidulated water until required.

When required, drain the artichoke halves, dry thoroughly on a clean
tea towel and slice thinly.

Cover the base of a large frying pan with extra virgin olive oil,
add the finely chopped garlic and parsley and put on low heat. When the garlic
and parsley start to wilt, add the prepared artichokes and increase the heat.
Cook for 3 minutes, turning the artichokes in the oil from time to time. Add
salt, 125 ml of the wine and 125 ml cold water and cook for a further 20-25
minutes or until tender. Cover with a lid after the initial 5 minutes. Add
extra water if necessary.

When ready to serve, dip the prepared pork tenderloin slices in the
seasoned flour. Put a second frying pan on high heat and when hot add enough
extra virgin olive oil to cover the base. Add the meat slices and brown on both
sides then add the remaining 100 ml white wine. Reduce the heat and turn the
meat in the pan juices.

When the artichokes are ready, transfer them to the pan containing
the meat, making a single layer on top of the meat. Add the pan juices and cook
for 3 minutes, lid on. Switch off the heat; add the finely chopped parsley and rest
for a few minutes before serving with waxy new potatoes tossed in a little
extra virgin olive oil or butter.

Well it is asparagus time again and yet again, I
cannot resist coming up with a new asparagus recipe for you. Enter, on cue, the
first stubby, Wye Valley asparagus; probably rather later than usual as
everything is way behind this year.

As you know from past years I get very excited about
the new season’s crop of asparagus because I totally ignore all imports that
arrive on our shores throughout the rest of the year. I feel much the same
about, strawberries, raspberries, runner beans.....shall I go on?

There is no more delicious a starter than lightly
cooked asparagus spears served in melted butter or with extra virgin olive oil.
You might like to add a little grated Parmesan cheese or some black pepper,
even some lemon juice but it is hardly necessary if the asparagus is freshly
picked and freshly cooked. Dip them in a lightly boiled egg yolk or put them on
toast with a poached egg. Add them to pasta dishes and risottos as the main
event. This time around I have combed them with prosciutto and pancetta and put
them in and on a tart.

Asparagus
and Prosciutto Tart - serves 6-8

Pastry

150g plain flour

15 g corn flour

1 teaspoon sieved icing sugar

pinch of salt

90 g softened butter

2 small free-range egg yolks

1 tablespoon dry white wine or iced water

Filling

8 tender thick asparagus spears

4 slices of prosciutto cut in half

4 eggs

250 ml double cream

50 g parmesan cheese

Handful of parsley, finely chopped

Freshly milled pepper

140 g cubed pancetta

Utensils

Loose based tart tin 26cm, buttered

Rolling pin

A circle of baking parchment 2-4 cm larger than the
tart tin

Dried beans for baking blind

Preheat oven to 220 F 425 C gas 7 then lower to 180C
350 C gas 4

Put the flours, icing sugar and salt in a bowl; add
the softened butter, egg yolk and white wine if using. Quickly and lightly
knead the ingredients together into a smooth ball. Wrap in cling film and set
in the fridge for an hour to rest.

While the pastry is resting prepare the asparagus;
snap off the tough ends of the spears. Cut the spears in half. Wrap each tip
half in a half slice of prosciutto; arrange in a roasting tin and reserve.

Put 250 ml of salted water on to boil. Cut the bottom
half of the spears into 1 cm lengths and cook for 2 – 3 minutes or until
tender. Blanch in ice cold water, drain and pat dry.

When the pastry has rested, roll it into a neat circle
on a well floured work surface. The pastry should be 3-4 centimetres larger
than the tin.

Line the tart tin with the pastry, put the baking
parchment on top and fill with the baking beans.

Put in the pre-heated oven for 10 minutes, or until
golden around the edges, at the higher temperature. After this time, take out and
discard the parchment and the beans. Paint the base with a little egg white.

Cook the asparagus and prosciutto rolls in the same
oven for 5 minutes and reserve.

Put the eggs, cream, parmesan cheese, chopped parsley and
pepper in a small bowl and whisk well, add the asparagus bits and the pancetta,
mix once and pour into the tart tin and cook at the lower temperature until
set, say 20 minutes.

Take the tart out of the oven, arrange the asparagus
rolls around the top and leave to cool, take the tart out of the tin and serve
with new potatoes and salad as a main course or on its own as a starter.

Stir-fry is a simple stand-by for mid-week suppers and this classic
combination of steak and prawns is no exception. Rather than strips of steak
this dish is made with minced steak. I have a favourite recipe from Cambodia
that combines minced pork and smoky aubergines which is delicious, and it set
me thinking about cooking other minced meats in a wok. They cook really quickly and the addition of
palm sugar and mirrin helps caramelise the meat giving it a rich texture. Serve
stirred through boiled noodles tossed in sesame oil or plain rice.

We always drink jasmine tea with oriental food at home or in a
restaurant; I find it is not only the perfect accompaniment, in that the
fragrance perfectly balances the rich flavours, but it aids the digestion too.
I recently bought some jasmine tea pearls. Whole leaves are rolled into perfect
little pearly beads which unwind when brewed in boiling water; giving off their
full scent. Expensive but heavenly!

1 bunch of spring
onions

1 lump of root ginger

4 large cloves garlic

400 g minced steak

4 tablespoons rice
wine or dry sherry

1 heaped teaspoon
demarara sugar

1 large firm beef
tomato, cut into 1 cm cubes

2 red pepper, cut into
strips

2 tablespoons tamari
soy sauce

2 tablespoons mirrin

150 g ready cooked
jumbo prawns

150 g sugar-snap peas

Vegetable oil

Finely chop the white of the spring onions, the
ginger root and garlic. Put a wok over medium to high heat, when hot add 3
tablespoons vegetable oil then toss in the finely chopped vegetables and stir
fry until soft but not browned, say 1 minute. Add the minced steak, a little at
a time and stir fry until all the grains of meat are separate and browned well,
say 5 minutes. Transfer to a dish to keep warm. Deglaze the pan with the rice
wine, add the sugar and reduce by half, then add to the minced steak and stir.

Add 3 more tablespoons of vegetable oil to the
pan, add the prepared tomato and stir-fry on medium heat, to a mush, for say 5
minutes. Add the strips of red peppers and stir fry until they start to wilt
then return the minced steak to the pan and stir fry to reheat. Then add the
soy sauce and mirrin, stir fry to coat then add the cooked prawns and the sugar
snap peas and stir fry for one or two minutes, add the spring onion tops (cut
in julienne). Turn once to mix.

Prepare 3 - 4 servings of noodles as directed
on the packet. Drain, toss well with 2 tablespoons of sesame seed oil and
transfer to a large bowl, add two-thirds of the stir fry and toss well. Top
with the remaining surf and turf stir-fry and serve at once with jasmine tea.

Monday, 18 February 2013

When I was preparing for
my ‘Getting ready for Christmas’ course back in December at the Chef’s Room,
one of the men in the stores at Vin Sullivan’s said, tongue in cheek, “why
bother; you can buy all that here”. And so you can!

You only have to run the
gauntlet of any supermarket ‘ready-made’ aisle now to realise that the more
cooking that is shown on TV, the more, what used to be aptly called “TV dinners”,
there are to tempt you out of the kitchen. There will of
course always be a place for ready meals; being able to put a meal on a plate
without doing anymore than opening a packet and warming it is a convenience. But right now we are all asking what is in that packet?

The kitchen is the heart
of a home, the place where everyone loves to gravitate, a place where magic and
conviviality is made. Food that is made at home starts with thought and
imagination; it contains the wholesome, possibly organic, possibly free range, possibly
local or home grown ingredients that you have chosen. There is the time that you
spend making the food and the care that goes in. There are the wonderful aromas
that draw family and friends. Then finally there is the food itself and the
enjoyment. Everyone eats and talks, sitting around a table together. This is
the joy of cooking and there has never been a better way to show your love than cooking something yourself.

Runaway Quails with Roast Squash- Serves 4

So much of my cooking is
born out of necessity or rather what I have in the fridge. Last week I had some
richly flavoured Trealy Farm black pudding that did not get used at Christmas.
I had bought some chicken thighs for supper and it suddenly dawned on me that I
could stuff them with the black pudding and in doing so created an interesting dish,
fit for any occasion.

The name of the dish is
a play on the Italian name for beef olives,
Uccelli Scappati (Runaway Birds). The Italians traditionally, just as we
once did, ate sparrow and blackbird. Chicken wrapped black pudding is bigger
than a beef olive and looks rather like a roast quail - hence “Runaway Quails”.

8 chicken thigh fillets, skinned and boned (6-800 g)

8 sage leaves

100 - 150 g good quality black pudding

4 spring onions

8 - 16 thin slices of pancetta

8 – 16 cocktail sticks

100 ml white wine

4 large cloves garlic, peeled and cut into slivers

Salt and black pepper

Pre-heat the oven 200 C/Gas Mark 6.

Open out each chicken thigh on a board, season with salt and pepper
and lay a sage leaf across the middle. Put a generous teaspoon of black pudding
on the leaf.

Cut off the tops of the spring onions and reserve. Cut what is left of
the onion into 4 cm lengths. Press one of these into the black pudding and roll
the chicken up around it. Bind with one or two slices of pancetta and secure
with 1 or 2 cocktail sticks depending on the size of the thigh.

Transfer to a roasting tin and add enough wine to cover the base of
the tin. Chop any remaining spring onion into 1 cm pieces and scatter around
the chicken with the garlic slivers.

Put in the oven and cook for 30 minutes then increase the heat to
220 C/Gas Mark 7, for 10 minutes to brown the pancetta. Switch off the heat and
leave to rest for 10 minutes. Pull out
and discard the cocktail sticks.

Transfer to a serving dish to keep warm, on top of the squash (if using).
See recipe below.

Put the roasting dish over medium heat and add a glass of cold water
to the pan juices and stir to deglaze. Simmer for a few minutes and pour the
juices and the bits of onion and garlic over the chicken.

Snip the reserved spring onion tops into short lengths and sprinkle a
few over the chicken. Serve on or with sliced roast squash.

Roast squash with ginger-
Serves 4

500 g butter nut squash or similar

1 knob of ginger, peeled and chopped

Extra virgin olive oil

A few snipped spring onion tops

Pre-heat the oven to 200 C/Gas Mark 6.

Cut the squash into thin wedges and arrange in a lightly oiled oven-to-table
dish, in a single layer.

Sprinkle with the chopped ginger. Put in the oven and cook until
tender – say 40 minutes.

Leave to rest in the warm oven for 10 minutes. Serve with the
chicken (if using) arranged on top and sprinkle with snipped spring onion tops.

What better way to cheer ourselves up than to get a few friends around but can we be bothered? Getting motivated is never easy this time of the year. Well, take a look at this menu of simple recipes and see what you think.
There is very little cooking involved and it is light and bright and comforting
too! The salad starter is enhanced by the addition of rich sweet seasonal fruit
and served on a bed of charcuterie. The main course is a tangy comforting pasta
dish that you can make using up left over cheeses or buying new of course.
To finish serve a simple colourful mandarin and pomegranate jewel salad. What
could be simpler?

Visit your local deli and try some of our wonderful local charcuterie
made by Native Breeds or Trealy Farm, oh yes – and pick up some interesting
pasta while you are there and the cheese too.

Bresaola with Pear, Baby Leaf Salad
and Walnuts -
Serves 4

8 slices
of bresaola or prosciutto di Parma

Baby leaf
salad - 4 small handfuls

1 ½ tablespoons extra virgin
olive oil

½ tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Salt and freshly ground black
pepper

2 firm pears, persimmons or
figs

Juice 1 lemon if using pears

A handful
of broken walnuts

Put two slices of bresaola on
each plate. Put the salad leaved in a bowl, add the olive oil, balsamic
vinegar, salt and pepper to taste and toss lightly. Make a pile of salad in the
middle of each serving of bresaola. Cut the pears into wedges and toss in lemon
juice and put on the salad. Divide the broken walnut halves between the plates.
Serve immediately.

Fill
a large pan with water, add a handful of coarse salt and bring to a rolling
boil, add the pasta, stir and cook on high heat uncovered. Taste a couple of
minutes before the suggested cooking time on the packet is up.

While
the pasta is cooking, trim off the rind from the cheeses and discard. Cut the
cheese onto cubes and put into a small pan with the butter and milk on low heat
and stir until the mixtures melts into a smooth sauce.

Drain
the pasta when it is cooked al dente and transfer to a large serving bowl, add
the cheese sauce, half the nuts, half a teaspoon of coarsely ground black
pepper, half the Parmigiano Reggiano and mix well.

Sprinkle
the remaining nuts over the top and serve with extra cheese.

Mandarin and Pomegranate Jewel Salad– serves 8

16
mandarins

1
pomegranate

Pomegranate
cordial

Water

Peel the
mandarins and remove any loose pith from the peeled fruit. Cut into thin slices
and arrange in a shallow serving dish.

Cut the
pomegranate into quarters and turn out the jewels by pushing the pomegranate
quarters inside-out; pull away and discard any pith.

Sprinkle
the pomegranate jewels over the mandarin slices and add 4 tablespoons of
pomegranate cordial and 4 tablespoons of water, stir and refrigerate.

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About Me

LINDY WILDSMITH ON A PLATE
Acclaimed food writer, cook, teacher and traveller, Lindy believes in seasonal ingredients and supporting local producers and businesses. The changing seasons have inspired books on preserving, curing and drinks.
Fluent in Italian, having spent many years living and working in Rome and Bologna, she also specializes in regional Italian food and has translated as well as written books and features on Italian food.
She teaches at Denman the WI Cookery School, the School of Artisan Food.
Follow her on twitter @lindywildsmith
Facebook and Instagram www.lindywildsmith.co.uk